Comfort
by Melfina Lupin
Summary: When Gaara has a nightmare, his silbings are always there to help him


Title: Comfort

Author's Note: I'm in love with the Sand siblings signing to each other.

Summary: Kankuro and Gaara do some bonding while Temari is away.

Warning: Takes place after time jump.

Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.

Gaara woke up late in the night, breathing heavy and shivering in a cold sweat that made goose bumps blotch his skin. Body taut with alert, his eyes darted around his large room as he heard his heart hammering loudly in his ears. Pale moonlight sipped into his room from his window.

There was nothing. No clandestine assassin come to kill him. Nothing that threatened Suna. So why did he feel this way?

He licked his lips nervously and he swallowed hard but his mouth was parched.

At first after Shukaku had been extracted from his body, Gaara slept peacefully for the first time in his life. He remembered nothing when he woke up but after a while his dreamless sleep was interrupted with visions that Temari told him were dreams. She told him she usually dreams searching for something or loosing her teeth while Kankuro dreamt about water and apples.

"Most dreams are harmless," she said, "and kind of funny. Like little movies playing in your brain."

When he asked her if all dreams were good, she shook her head a little hesitantly. "Some can be scary."

"What are those called?"

"Nightmares."

But Gaara had a feeling that his nightmares were that just harmless movies playing in his head. Some felt so real and felt so familiar that some times he thought they had really happened. Some were upsetting while others were so terrifying that he woke up to the sound of his own sobbing.

It made his siblings worry. They consulted Ebizo. The elder said that Gaara's nightmares were probably just memories. With Shukaku's presence no longer occupying Gaara's mind and body, it was quite possible that he was just seeing old memories that he hadn't been allowed to remember before. Ebizo offered a sleeping aid that would ensure a good night's rest but it wasn't full proof.

The sleep aid helped most nights but not all. Not tonight.

Gaara inhaled deeply and pushed himself up until he was sitting on his large bed. The silken cover slipped down his body and pooled in his lap. He rubbed his eyes and ran his hands through his hair, breathing slowly to calm his racing heart. Little by little he could feel himself start to calm down, could feel the needless alarm running throughout his body fade away.

His breathing returned to normal and the sweet cooled on his body but he still jumped a little when he heard a soft knock on his door. Turning his head, he watched the knob turn in the darkness and the door slowly opened. Kankuro stepped inside quietly, dark hair disheveled and only wearing a pair of low-slung cotton pants.

"Hey," he muttered, voice rough from sleep. He looked different without his paint on. Without it, they really did look like brothers.

Gaara watched him stagger across the room towards him and sat motionlessly when Kankuro dropped onto the bed with a contagious yawn that made Gaara yawn back. As Kankuro got settled, Gaara's heavy eyes blinked owlishly for a moment before he laid back down. Usually it was Temari who came to comfort him but this time she was away in Konoha on a mission.

No longer afraid like he used to be, Kankuro wrapped an arm around Gaara and pulled him closer. Since it wasn't that cool that night in Suna both were topless but neither of them cared. Gaara was thankful for the contact.

He rested his head on Kankuro's shoulder, one of his arms snaking around his brother's firm waist, while Kankuro's hand stroked his hair. Gaara yawned again and closed his eyes.

"Another one?" Kankuro murmured. His lips moved softly against Gaara's forehead when he talked.

"Hm. How'd you know?"

"You're chakra. When send a wave of chakra out. Usually wakes me or Temari up."

"Wanna talk about it?"

"No. Maybe tomorrow."

"All right."

By now he was used to his siblings coming to his aid. He didn't know why but their presence soothed him, made his horrible nightmares seem like a distant memory. When he was with Temari, she'd wrap his up in her arms and cradle him, humming softly, luring him back to sleep with her sweet smell and soft touches. But Kankuro was different. He was harder than Temari and took extra care to be gentle with him.

It didn't matter that Gaara 15 or that Kankuro had been petrified of him for 12 years of his life.

Gaara sighed deeply, inhaling his brother's familiar scent of wood and spice. He shifted a little closer. Kankuro stretched out his arm and grabbed the edge of the cover, drawing it up over their bodies.

"At dusk, I beheld the orange sun with you," he softly began to sing.

Kankuro had a good voice Gaara had discovered before. Often he and Temari would sing together when they were bored-after dinner when they were washing dishes or in a rare, calm moment during a mission. It surprised Gaara but he sat and listens anyway. Temari's singing voice was lower than her normal voice, making all the songs she sang sound rich and husky while Kankuro's voice was nice and warm, just a purr of a baritone.

"…The blue sky hides our breath and the red sunset embraces us.  
And I embrace you too, as I close my eyes…"

Sleep made Gaara's body grow heavy as he sank further into Kankuro's embrace. His brother continued to sing softly in his ear. He sang it beautifully and Gaara struggled to remain awake long enough to hear it out.

"I can't love you any more than I do. And just by that, I feel complete. So don't cry, we can always meet again. Whenever we close our eyes..."

The end

I wanted Kankuro to sing an Arabic lullaby but I couldn't find any to use. So I settled on the English version of 'Orenji no taiyou' by Gackt and Hyde. Listen to it and think it's Kankuro singing (I do). It's a really great song.


End file.
